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CONCISE ACCOUNT 



OF 



PENNSBURY 



IN 



Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 



BY 



G. W. B. 



1881. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

Printing House of John P. Murphy, 
227 South Fikh St. 



CONCISE ACCOUNT 



OF 



>^ 



PENNSBURY 



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IN 



Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 



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Of Wr B.-^rWV^ 

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PHILADELPHIA ! 

Printing House of John P. Murphy, 
227 South Fifth St. 






I'^hZi^yL 



CONCISE ACCOUNT OF PENNSBURY. 



Penis^sbury was the name bestowed upon 
William Penn's favorite American mansion 
and its near surroundings : the location was 
in Penn's Manor, near the Delaware River, 
and near the south-eastern extremity of Bucks 
County, Pennsylvania. It was a place which 
attracted much attention in its early history, 
and is yet a locality around which clusters 
much historic interest — religious, political, ju- 
dicial, social, domestic. The spacious mansion 
itself was a prodigy of the times, and the illus- 
trious family which occupied it the centre of 
great attraction. The founder of a new and 
untried system of government, there spent 
some of his happier hours, relaxing at times 
fron\ the severe duties of his position, and in 
the enclosure of the family circle, partaking of 
the more quiet enjoyments of life ; but these 



CONCISE ACCOUNT 



hours of recreation doubtless were mingled 
with seasons of thoughtful, and sometimes 
painful, solicitude, under the weight of the 
great trust that had been committed to his 
care, and the heavy responsibilities he had 
accepted and assumed; yet he pursued his 
way amid the sunshine and the clouds which 
sometimes surrounded him, with unwavering 
trust in the triumph of his humane, liberal, 
just and Christian policy. The infant govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania received no inconsider- 
able portion of its nursing at Pennsbury. 

Penn's Manor, as originally laid out by 
Markham, contained 8431 acres — the land 
partly alluvial, and principally covered with 
forest. The boundaries were somewhat irreg- 
ular, but they bordered for several miles on 
the River Delaware, and extended several 
miles inland; they also bordered on several 
tracts of land taken up by earlier settlers 
under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New 
York, and never belonged to the Penn Estate. 
About three miles intervenes in a northerly 
direction between Bristol, Penna., and the 



OF PENNSBTJRY. 



nearest point in the original Manor boundary* 
That portion of the domain lying between 
Governor's Creek and Welcome Creek, con- 
taining the site of the original mansion and its 
surrounding improvements, has been repre- 
sented, and with a degree of plausability, as a 
noble island, an ancient Indian royalty, with 
affluents from the river bending several times 
around it, chosen by chieftains nurtured in 
aboriginal warfare, as a position possessing 
many advantages for defence against their en- 
emies, and while in their possession bearing 
the name of Sepassin. There is a portion of 
Penn's Manor formerly occupied by beds of 
creeks and affluents from and to the river, 
which is now cultivated land, and this circum- 
stance may in a degree account for the changed 
appearance of the surface and surroundings. 
Pennsbury is not now upon an island. 

Upon the chosen situation, the agents of 
William Penn commenced building a habita- 
tion suitable for the governor of a great pro- 
vince, even before his first arrival in the coun- 
try. It was erected in 1682-3, and with the 



CONCISE ACCOUNT 



improvements, some of which were perhaps 
added at a later date, cost £5000, which was 
estimated in those days as a large sum of mo- 
ney. The mansion was sixty feet in length, 
forty in breadth, and two stories high, built of 
bricks, and covered with tiles. There was a 
large reservoir for water on top of the house, 
constructed of lead, and to the leakage from it 
was partly ascribed the premature decay of the 
building. It has also been said that much of 
the lead was pillaged at the time of the Revo- 
lutionary War, for the purpose of moulding 
bullets. Judging from relics found upon the 
premises, at least some of the window sash 
was likewise of lead. The out-houses — includ- 
ing a kitchen and larder, a wash-house, a 
house for brewing and baking, and a stable 
for twelve horses — were all buildings one and 
a half stories high, and are said to have been 
so disposed as to produce an effect agreeable 
and picturesque. The large wooden brew- 
house was more secluded : after this historic 
building, which has attracted so much curios- 
ity and been visited by so many people, was 



OF PENNSBUBY. t 

not needed or made use of for the special pur- 
pose of brewing, it was utilized as a farm-hou^Q 
for many successive years ; but it has now 
disappeared, except the foundations, which ar^ 
still visible. 

The point has been somewhat controverted,, 
but it is generally believed that the mansion 
faced the Delaware ; its appearance has been 
represented as stately, and that the upper 
windows commanded a magnificent view of 
the river and of the opposite shores of New 
Jersey. The entrance was by stone steps lead- 
ing to a handsome porch, on the oaken capitals 
of which were displayed carvings of vines and 
clusters of grapes, imported by the Proprietor 
from England. The porch opened into a spa- 
cious hall extending nearly the whole length 
of the house, which was used upon public oc^ 
casions, for the meeting of the council, for the 
accommodation of strangers and distinguished 
guests, for collective intercourse with the Iht 
dian tribes, and probably for courts and reli- 
gious meetings, which it is asserted were held 
at the mansion. On the first floor there wai 



8 CONCISE ACCOUIS^T 

also a small hall, and three parlors, all wain- ^ 
scotted with English oak, and communicating f 
by folding doors. From information obtained 
through the instrumentality of John Penn, the 
great hall is represented as containing, among 
other articles of furniture, one long table, a 
supply of pewter plates and dishes, and six 
vessels for holding water or beer. It is pro- 
bable that this hall was also occupied upon 
various public occasions for the festive enter- 
tainment of William Penn's numerous guests, 
among whom the Indians are said to have 
been the most frequent partakers of his hospi- 
tality. Information through the same channel, 
giving a descriptive account of the varied fur- 
niture distributed through the three parlors 
and little hall, described a great leather chair 
in one of the apartments : this was probably 
used by the Governor upon important public 
occasions. The same source of information 
describes the four chambers as being well 
supplied with beds, bedding, chairs, tables, 
etc. In one of them the bed curtains were of • 
satin ; in another, of camlet ; in another, of 



OF PENNSBURY. 



striped linen. The chambers in the garret 
were furnished with four beds. We also 
gather from the same authority, that upon 
the broad walk or avenue lined and shaded 
with poplars, extending from the mansion to 
the river brink, and descending by a flight of 
stone steps from the upper to the lower terrace, 
on one occasion the tables were spread for the 
festive entertainment of a large number of In- 
dian guests ; and among the viands prepared 
were one hundred turkeys, beside venison and 
other meats. 

The mansion stood upon a gentle elevation 
surrounded on all sides by gardens, lawns, 
shrubberies, and flower beds to which the 
most beautiful wild flowers found in the 
country, native and procurable, were trans- 
planted. The Proprietor has been represented 
as being extremely fond of a suitable country 
house with extensive gardens, and that he 
spared neither care nor money in order to 
make Pennsbury prominently attractive as a 
residence. He imported skilful gardeners, 
both from England and from Scotland. The 



10 cojn^cise account 

gardens themselves were a marvel in the 
colony for their extensiveness, for their beauty, 
for their attractiveness of location, and for the 
skill manifested in their management ; various 
kinds of trees, shrubs, seeds and roots were 
imported from England ; among them walnuts 
and fruit trees. The adjacent woods were laid 
out in walks and drives at the time of the 
Governor's first visit to the country, and he 
afterward, in several of his letters, required 
the preservation of the trees. There were 
also more distant vistas, opening prospects 
down the Delaware, and upward toward the 
falls. 

The Governor, both on his first and second 
visits to Pennsylvania, imported valuable 
horses. The family had a large travelling 
coach at its disposal, but owing to the fre- 
quent badness of the roads it was not very 
often called into service; a calash was a more 
frequent accommodation. Hannah and Letitia, 
the wife and daughter of William Penn, rode 
in a sedan chair when they went a-shopping in 
the city, or visited their female friends in the 



OF PENNSBURY. H 

neighborhood, and judging from the circum- 
stance that several side-saddles and pillions 
were found in the mansion after the family had 
left America, it is reasonable to suppose that 
the women to some extent practiced horseback 
riding. The Governor himself frequently rode 
around the country on horseback, but he gene- 
rally travelled between Pennsbury and Phila- 
delphia in his barge, to which he was ver}^ 
partial, manifesting peculiar interest in it ; it 
was of considerable dimensions, furnished with 
a mast and six oars. In a letter to his stew- 
ard, he says : " But above all dead things, my 
barge. I hope nobody uses it on any account^ 
and that she is kept in a dry dock, or at least 
covered from the weather." 

Isaac N^orris thus writes of the Proprietor's 
wife when the family were about leaving the 
country : " His excellent wife, and she is be- 
loved by all (I believe I may say in its fullest 
extent) : so is her leaving us heavy and of real 
sorrow to her friends ; she has carried under 
and through all with a wonderful evenness, 
humility and freedom ; her sweetness an,d 



12 CONCISE ACCOUNT 

goodness have become her character, and are 
indeed extraordinary. In short, we love her, 
and she deserves it." Letitia, the daughter of 
William and Grulielma Penn, has been repre- 
sented as very interesting and attractive: the 
certificate setting forth membership and re- 
moval granted by her friends in a collective 
capacity, upon her return to England, por- 
trayed their estimation of her merits in lan- 
guage very appreciative. But it has been 
represented, that these two worthy females, 
Hannah and Letitia Penn, after the novelty of 
the wilderness had passed away, had no cor- 
dial love for the country of their adoption, and 
had more than once invited the Proprietor to 
take them back to their beloved England ; 
that they were in a flutter of delight at the 
prospect of leaving America; and that they 
themselves, were perhaps the only persons in 
Pennsylvania who rejoiced at their departure. 
Isaac JN'orris also writes : '' The Grovernor's 
wife and daughter are well ; their little son, a 
lovely babe; his wife is a woman truly well 
beloved here, exemplary in her station, and of 



OF PENNSBURY. 13 

an excellent spirit, which adds lustre to her 
character, and has a great place in the hearts 
of all people." Deborah Logan mentions a 
tradition heard in her youth from an old 
woman in Bucks County, "who went, when 
she was a girl, with a basket containing a 
rural present to the Proprietor's mansion, and 
saw his wife, a delicate, pretty woman, sitting 
beside the cradle of her infant." The child 
which is here brought into notice was pro- 
bably the one, and the only one of William 
Penn's children born in America. , 

It has been said that William Penn died a 
slaveholder, but if so, it is manifest that it was 
unintentional ; although there is reason to be- 
lieve that slaves continued to be appendages 
to the estate at Pennsbury after he left Penn- 
sylvania for the last time, and even at the time 
of his decease in 1718, and for several years 
after ; yet, as he sets forth in a will which is 
still extant, made in 1701, containing this 
clause : "I give to my blacks their freedom, 
as is under my hand already, and to Old Sam 
100 acres, to be his children's after he and 



14 CONCISE ACCOUNT 

his wife are dead," it is not likely that he 
changed his mind afterwards, but more pro- 
bable that those entrusted with his American 
B-ffairs, were embarrassed in carrying out his 
benevolent intentions. The following is from 
a letter dated in 1721, from James Logan to 
Hannah Penn : 

" The Proprietor, in a will left with me at 
his departure hence, gave all his negroes their 
freedom, but this is entirely private : however, 
there are very few left. 

"Sam died soon after your departure, and 
his brother James lately, Chevalier by a writ- 
ten order from his master, had his liberty 
several years ago ; so that there are none left 
but Sue, whom Letitia claims, or did claim, 
as given to her when she went to England. 
These things you can best discuss. 

" There are, besides, two old negroes, quite 
worn, that remained of three which I received 
eighteen years ago of E. Gibbs' Estate of 'New 
Castle County." 



OF PENNSBUEY. 15 

It may be that some of those slaves, advanc- 
ing as they were in age, were retained in an 
unchanged condition, for the humane purpose 
of supporting them out of the estate in their 
declining years. William Penn's last will 
makes no allusion to property in slaves. 

When it became known among the Indians 
that Onas, as they called the Proprietor, was 
about to leave the country, a large number of 
them flocked to Pennsbury, to renew their 
covenants, and to bid him farewell : many of 
them were sad under a fear and an impression 
that he would never return ; hovering around 
his promises of friendship, protection and jus- 
tice with increasing tenacity, and anxious lest 
those who were left in trust of the administra- 
tion of his affairs in his absence might not 
prove satisfactory. This gathering together of 
the Indians at Pennsbury upon the eve of the 
Governor's absence from the province, was a 
memorable and important occasion ; they met 
in council, and for themselves and people, re- 
spectively, expressed their earnest solicitude 
that all their former covenants might remain 



16 CONCISE ACCOUNT 

inviolate, and agreed, and earnestly urged, 
that if any differences should arise amongst 
them, such might not be made the occasion 
of alienation and hostility between William 
Penn or his people and the Indian chiefs or 
their people ; but that justice should be done 
under all circumstances, that all animosities 
on all sides might be forever prevented. 

We can scarcely sufficiently appreciate in 
this day the advantages which resulted from 
William Penn's pacific policy toward the In- 
dians, and his consequent influence over them. 
The mutual hatreds and jealousies between 
whites and Indians which prevailed in other 
colonies, and impeded their prosperity, were 
obviated here ; and the early settlers, while 
pressed with the cares and privations of pion- 
eer life, experienced not only their friendship, 
but their services. 

J. Richardson, of England, has left an in- 
teresting account of a visit which he made at 
Pennsbury in the year 1701 or 1702. The 
following are extracts from his memoranda : 



OF PENNSBURY. 17 

" I was at William Penn's country house, 
called Pennsbury, in Pennsylvania, where I 
stayed two or three days, on one of which I 
was at a meeting and a marriage. Much of 
the other part of the time I spent in seeing to 
my satisfaction William Penn and many of 
the Indians, not the least of them, in council 
concerning their former covenants, now again 
revived upon William Penn's going away to 
England, all of which was done in much calm- 
ness of temper and in an amicable way. 

" When they had ended the most weighty 
parts for which they (their councils) had been 
held, William Penn gave them match coats 
and some other things, which the speaker ad- 
vised to be put into the hands of one of their 
eossacks or kings, for he knew best how to 
order them. I observed, and also heard the 
same from others, that they did not speak two 
at a time, nor interfere in the least with each 
other in that way in their councils. Their eat- 
ing and drinking was also in much stillness. 

" William Penn said he understood they 
owned a Superior Power, and asked the inter- 



18 CONCISE ACCOUNT 



preter what their notion of God was in their 
own way. The interpreter showed by mark- 
ing several circles on the ground with his staff, 
until he reduced the last into a small circum- 
ference, and placed, as he said by way of re- 
presentation, the Great Man, as they called 
him, in the middle of the circle, so that he 
could see over all the other circles, which in- 
cluded all the earth. 

. " They went out of the house into an open 
place n.ot far from it to perform their worship, 
which was done thus : First they made a small 
fire, and the men without the women sat down 
about it in a ring, and whatsoever object they 
severally fixed their eyes on, I did not see 
them removed in all that part of their wor- 
ship, while they sang a very melodious hymn, 
which affected and tendered the hearts of 
many who were spectators. When they had 
thus done, they began to beat upon the 
ground with little sticks, or make some mo- 
tion with something in their hands, and 
pause a little, till one of the elder sort sets 
forth his hymn, followed by the company for 



OF PENNSBUEY. 19 



a few minutes, and then a pause ; and the 
like was done by another, and so by a third, 
and followed by the company as at first; 
which seemed exceedingly to affect them and 
others. Having done, they rose up and 
danced a little about the fire, and parted 
with some shouting like triumph or rejoic- 
ing." 

There is scope for thoiightfulness in the re- 
membrance that this interesting people has 
long since passed away from a large space of 
country which spreads around Pennsbury — - 
a people so sincere in their devotions, so moral 
in their lives, so warm in their attachments, 
so unalterable in their friendships ; no linger- 
ing remnant remains to represent the race of 
their worthy fathers, or exhibit the attainments 
in civil and religious progress of which it was 
doubtless susceptible. 

And as the personal presence of William 
Penn among the poor Indians was marked by 
many testimonials of affection on their part, 
and as their friendship was pure, it was deeply 



20 CONCISE ACCOUNT 

rooted and lasting, time and distance did not 
wear it out ; the memory thereof was precious 
to them, and they exhibited evidence of it long 
after William Penn had passed away. It ap- 
pears they had a veneration for Pennsbury on 
account of associations connected with it, and 
some tribes were wont to perform annual visits 
to the locality. These visits were continued 
until late in the last century, and perhaps 
were continued until a later period of time. 
An eye-witness, who had been a young girl 
residing with the family occupying the brew- 
house dwelling about the time to which refer- 
ence has been made, represented that among 
the annual visitors were some of great age ; 
and at that period there yet remained some of 
the walnut trees that William Penn had 
planted, and these were objects to which they 
clung with howling and lamentation, appa- 
rently frantic with grief, yet with wild enthu- 
siastic fondness. Some of these aged children 
of the forest had knowledge of William Penn 
personally as well as from tradition, and there 
must have been something touching in these 



OF PENNSBUKY. 21 



exhibitions of true-hearted affection for his 
memory, which still remained so fi^esh and 
lively, so long after his earthly pilgrimage 
had ended. 

The bursts of affection with which the poor 
Indians sometimes greeted their friend Wil- 
liam Penn were somewhat singular in exhi- 
bition, and, although doubtless annoying, per- 
haps were not altogether displeasing to his 
generous feelings. If tradition truly repre- 
sents, these warm-hearted creatures upon one 
occasion met him on the road in the neighbor- 
hood of Pennsbury riding in his coach, and 
from the impulse of the moment, drew him 
from it, and wrapped their blankets around 
him in token of affection ; and so impetuous 
was their zeal to manifest their friendship and 
attachment, that all danger from the fright of 
horses was unheeded, overlooked, or not com- 
prehended, and it was needful for the driver 
to tie them to trees for safety. 

The Grovernor of a great province sometimes 
condescended to the low estate of the simple- 
hearted and confiding Indians, partaking of 



22 CONCISE ACCOUNT 

their venison, their hominy, their roasted 
acorns, and other Indian dainties, joining in 
their athletic sports, and sometimes rivalling 
them in feats of agility ; with all of which they 
were immensely pleased. 

The Indians bore frequent testimony that 
William Penn had never deceived them, and 
unbounded was their confidence in his integri- 
ty : doubtless it was good policy in him to 
cultivate their friendship ; but apart from 
every temporal consideration, they possessed 
a large share of his sympathy, brotherly kind- 
ness and disinterested love. 

There is something truly pleasing in look- 
ing back to the beginnings and advance, the 
manifestations, comforts, and good fruits of the 
friendship which continued to subsist between 
William Penn and the Indians. Although he 
possessed the land which had descended to 
them from their fathers, and they were exiles 
from it, still that friendship remained unim- 
paired. AVere we now to look abroad over 
the scattered remnants of our Indian popula- 
tion, how few examples of warm attachment, 



OF PENNSBURY. 23 



unwavering friendship, and bursts of affection 
would be manifested at the presence of those 
that have been instrumental in dispossessing 
them of their ancient inheritance, and how 
few would be the testimonials to the justice 
and generosity of these. 

A scanty remnant of one or two of the old 
cherry trees, which it is said William Penn 
planted with his own hands, is still obtainable 
as relics. A portion of the brick pavement 
which constituted the cellar floor of the man- 
sion, is now an unaltered portion of the cellar 
floor of the attractive modern farm-house built 
partly upon the foundations of its ancient but 
more pretentious predecessor. The occupants 
of the present dwelling are supplied with ex- 
cellent water from a well near the door, from 
the same well which, yielding the like pure 
and refreshing water, contributed to the neces- 
sities and comforts of the Penn family in days 
which have long since passed away. The wor- 
thy farmer who now owns and occupies the 
premises, bears the name of William Penn 
Crozier. 



24 CONCISE ACCOUNT 

The ancient improvements and the forests 
have nearly all disappeared from Pennsbury 
and its adjacent surroundings, but the site of 
the mansion is still there, and the river pur- 
sues its wonted course as when the Propri- 
etor of a great province and the introducer 
of a new and to the world novel system of 
government, launched his favorite barge upon 
its waves or tranquil waters, and perhaps 
contemplated the rapidly-approaching period 
when the progress of civilization would change 
the sylvan scene before him, and his benev- 
olent exertions to implant the blessings of 
civil and religious liberty be crowned with 
success. 



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